The Life of the Tiger Vitaly
by Leopard The Warrior Of Africa
Summary: We all know how Vitaly life was like a very short time before and after that fire hoop incident. But what about before all of what, to his very own cubhood? How did he join the circus and met Stefano and Gia? How did he met his wife who would later dump him for a musician? Prequel to Madagascar 3 (in a way) and A Surprise in Russia. Reason why I wrote this is inside.
1. Our tiger is born

Ok, I know what a lot of people are thinking. Didn't I say a sequel, not a prequel, for A Surprise in Russia?

Well... yes, but I ran out of ideas of how to continue the sequel, A Search in India, and until I figure out a new idea, I'm going with this.

And yes, I already know that other people are doing what life in the circus was like for Gia, Stefano, and Vitaly for Vitaly's fire accident. HOWEVER, I'm taking it a bit further. While I have not read all of these similar stories, I've pretty much noticed that most of the ones I did read never introduced who Gia's parents are, what happened to them, or where she actually came from. I've also noticed that Stefano's parents/where he came from are never mentioned, and those are what I want to go into. Also everyone remembers that I had Vitaly born in the wilds of Russia, right? So, I'm also going to tell how he was accepted into the circus.

So, to make a long story short (too late), I'm telling this from before Vitaly was even part of the circus.

From most likely the biggest fan of Vitaly and the first person to post a fan fiction story based on Vitaly/OC (other stories before A Surprise in Russia that did have Vitaly/OC were more based on Alex/Gia or focused on Alex and his relationship with his family) and one of the shippers of the sub-version of Vitaly/OC, Vitaly/Sister of Alex,

Leopard the Warrior of Africa

P.S. I only own the OCs.

* * *

_Listen close children, and you will hear,_

_The tale of what comes to one when thy fate is near._

_Because no matter where we go,_

_Them little things seems to follow us,_

_No matter what we do._

_I'll tell you the tale from which I've heard_

_by the campfires hearth,_

_The tale of the youngest son the tiger_

_who the old wise hunters claim is immortal._

_The youngest son of Afon,_

_that little Siberian tiger with green eyes of life._

_I will tell you what happened_

_when the start of Vitaly's fate was near._

It was in the middle of the Russian afternoon when the Siberian crane Agnessa was seen by the other animals, looking for someone. She didn't bother to ask the other animals, that was common sense really. Why? She was considered the messenger for the tiger family whose territory was over the valley and the mountains that surrounded it, therefore, whenever she appeared, everyone else tended to stay away from her, or they just ignored her, hoping that one of the adult tigers themselves weren't nearby on a hunt.

Meanwhile, not so far from the valley's main river, the father tiger of the family, Afon, looked like he was teaching one of his two sons, Alik, the tiger cub that looked like a mini-version of him, while Slava, who was the other son, and his two daughters, Anya, and Alisa, laid down on a rock nearby, how to hunt, using a squirrel as a target.

"Now, vhat I vant you two zo do, is to stay low to zhe ground," he whispered. Alik crouched down, his red eyes focused on the frog. "Zhat is it. Not a sound. Zhere, good. One more step… and…."

"Afon, sir!"

Alik jumped up out of surprise by his father's messenger, scaring the squirrel away. He soon looked miffed, seeing that the hunting lesson was now ruined while Slava, Alisa and Anya were laughing on the rock. Afon sighed and growled at the crane, his green eyes narrowing at her. "Agnessa! I have told you before, zhat if you vere to ever inzerrupt zhe hunzing lessons zhat I vould…!" he started, only to be interrupted by the female bird.

"But zhis is important, Afon! It is Feia! She just gave birth!" Afon seemed to pause for a moment, all the anger on his face washing away before running off.

"Kids, come on!"

Slava and Alik bumped into each other as Anya and Alisa ran after their father side by side. In almost no time (despite that it seemed only Agnessa and the tiger family could get up to the cave due to the fact they could be the only ones who know the trail to it and Agnessa could fly), Afon found himself at the cave's entrance, walking in to see his and Feia's newborns. Now, before this story is continued since the entire family is here, descriptions must be made. (Afon's and Feia's descriptions are in A surprise in Russia for those who have not read it).

Slava, whose name means glory, was the eldest child of his parents. He was in his pre-ten, going on about 1year and 4 months old at the least. He's the only one of all his siblings to be born outside the valley territory they lived in now, and due to the less amount of food from where he was born, he looked very scrawny compared to his tough looking father. The fur on his head was rather ruffled, along with the on the edges of his ears. His fur was a rather deep orange like Afon's, and had the same shade of pink for the color of his nose. The only physical trait that Slava seemed to have inherited from his mother Feia was her red eyes. He also was the only survivor of his litter. Alik, who was born in the same litter as his and Slava's sisters, looked just like a mini-version of his father, from eyes to fur to paws, to tail. His name meant defender, mostly due to the fact that Afon had rather higher hopes for him than he had for Slava. Anya, with her name meaning favor/grace, looked just like the female version of Alik, except for the fact she had no stripes on her cheeks. As her name suggests, she tended to do things gracefully, and seemed willingly to please her father. Alisa was the only one of all of her brothers and sister to look the most like their mother. In fact, as much as Alik looked like Afon, Alisa looked just as much like Feia. Her name means noble sort, indicating the fact of the rarity of such a light pelt happening on a tiger, yet darker enough to not be considered a white tiger.

Now, let's continue with the story, shall we?

The triplets (Alik, Alisa, and Anya) all went to their mother and looked down at the new member of the family. Slava stood a little bit away, just close enough to see his new brothers/sisters while Afon lay down beside Feia, who was grooming the small bundle in her arms.

The small bundle of fur moved, blinking his little bright green eyes upward towards his new family as his mother's rough tongue licked his forehead. His fur wasn't as deep of an orange as his father's, his nose was black like Feia's, and, again like Feia, he had no markings on his ears, and no white markings on his tail. A little mix of the two parents.

Slava gave a small smile to his little brother, rather glad that he wasn't the only one in the family anymore that had some physical traits of their mother while still have traits of their father. Alik stared at the baby tiger in a confused manner while Anya and Alisa were cooing over it. Afon gave a small smile, only to have it fade as he looked at Feia.

She was clearly tired, as most females are after they've given birth. However, it seemed that there was a more protectiveness from her as she groomed the youngest member of the family. There had only been one other time she had acted like this towards any of their cubs. Afon sighed at the memory of it before looking at Feia again. He was also rather concern with the size of the cub, even at his newborn stage.

"He's so cute, Mama!"

"He'll grow up zo be strong like Papa is and how Alik vill, right!?"

"He's rather nice for zhe newborn."

"He is ziny."

Alik, Anya, and Alisa looked at Slava with confusion while Afon and Feia looked at him with knowledge expressions. The eldest son shrugged and looked at the baby with a faded smile. "No point of lying. Zhe baby, he is ziny. Zinier zhan you three vere vhen you vere born. Zhe baby is a runt," he said, giving his new little brother a pitiful look. Feia sighed and went on grooming the cub more.

"And he is like you, Slava. He is zhe survivor of zhe litter," she said quietly, nuzzling her newest cub. Afon stood up and looked at his new son. Feia glanced at him for a moment before setting her eyes at the cub. "Vill you name him?" Afon's ears perked up.

"Vhat?"

"Vill you name him?"

"Of course I vill name him, but vhat is zhis use? He vill die like other runts. His name vill be Vitaly, just because it is zhe start of summer and summer is full of life."

Alik, Anya, and Alisa looked at the new baby, Vitaly, will rather sadden expression. It was the irony that saddened them, not that they thought that he would die because he was a runt, not because he would be the last baby their mother would have, but the irony. The irony that this baby, who would most likely die, who would be the last of their family until they grew up and found mates of their own, was to have a name Vitaly.

_And what does Vitaly means, little listeners?_

_It is Russian for vital; of life._

_And while we know that he will live and be the main star of a circus in Europe,_

_**Shouldn't we know his past to know how he got there?**_

_From this moment, the youngest son's fate was set..._

_but had not yet begun._

_Listen on, children._

_To hear the rest of this tale you should hear._

_Listen on, little listeners, listen on._

* * *

Marty: What's with that Poem thing anyway?

Me: It adds a bit of atmosphere to it. It's like hearing a story while camping from a storyteller. Just adds a little extra to it.

Skipper: That tiger was born a runt? HE'S FREAKING HUGE!

Me: So is Clifford the big red dog. Where do you think I got the main inspiration of that idea from?

Marty: Good point.

Me: Everyone review while I try to figure out how to redo that sequel for A Surprise in Russia. **The more reviews, the faster I'll ****try**** to get more chapters update and a new sequel for A Surprise in Russia up. **


	2. 2 months old

I only own the OCs!

Leopard the Warrior of Africa

* * *

_Listen children circled around the fire;_

_Would you like to hear more of this tale? _

Agnessa touched Vitaly's forehead lightly with her feathers. She was one of the few animals concern about the boy's health as a runt. Vitaly was now about 2 months old, almost ready the leave the den to explore the world around him. Feia was out hunting finally, since Afon wanted to try and continue to teach the older cubs how to hunt (mainly Alik for one), which left Agnessa as a sort of babysitter. This was really a first time thing for the crane as she draped a wing over the young sleeping cub. Agnessa had always been considered a good family friend for the previous cubs, or a sort of tour guide when Feia and Afon were too busy to take them somewhere. Slava, now considered a teenager, was now that as a well as a babysitter for the triplet cubs. And later on, also for this little cub sleeping beside her. For now though, Feia had finally made it clear that until Vitaly was ready to leave the den, Agnessa would play the role as his babysitter.

Agnessa looked down at the cub at the moment she felt him moved. Like all cubs his age, he still had a bit of fluffiness to his fur, so it really didn't surprise her at the small tuff on his head. He was growing rather big, though that could be rather due to the fact of not only him being the last survivor of the litter, but also how plentiful prey was in the valley. What really surprised Agnessa about Vitaly was **how** fast he was growing. Already he was the size of not a 2 month old, but more of a 4 month old.

Vitaly rolled about in his sleep again before opening his bright green eyes and looking up at Agnessa. "Is Mama back yet?" he asked running towards the cave's entrance. The words "mama's boy" quickly came to Agnessa's mind as she followed him.

"Nyet, she is not here, little Vitaly. Not yet, anyvay. Remember, it has been some zime since she has hunted," she answered for him, nudging him with her pale yellow beak back inside the den. "Now, vhy don't ve play find Bumpy, da?" Bumpy was a raggedy old stuff sika deer toy that Feia had found at an abandoned campsite. It had been Slava's sleeping buddy, the prey to pouncing for Alik, Anya, and Alisa, and now it was the little hide-and-seek game partner for Vitaly. Why the name Bumpy? Well… it just stuck.

"Bumpy!"

"Ok, now close zhose little eyes, and Bumpy vill hide, ok?"

Vitaly covered his eyes with his paws and tail, giggling as he waited for Bumpy to be hidden by his babysitter. "Ok, you can open zhem." Next thing anyone would know, the cub was searching everywhere for his toy. Agnessa couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"Zhere you are, Bumpy!" Vitaly pulled the toy out from behind some rocks in the cave's corner and hugged it. Hearing footsteps coming up the path, Agnessa went closer to Vitaly on her guard. This went away quickly at the sight of Feia dragging a boar into the den. "Mama!" Vitaly ran over to his mother, catching the tigress by surprise judging from how she almost fell over. Feia then smiled and picked him up, nuzzling him.

"And how is my little baby?" she asked, sitting down and nuzzling him even more. Vitaly nuzzled her back with just the same amount of affection. Agnessa went to the entrance of the cave before looking at the small mother and son moment.

"I am no baby! I am zhe big cub!" Vitaly said, even though he lay down in her arms like a baby. Feia smiled and shook her head at her youngest cub.

"You'll alvays be my little baby." Feia began to groom him just as the rest of the tiger family came. Vitaly looked up at his older brothers and sisters while his forehead was being licked by his mother. Afon looked at Vitaly in a rather disappointed manner, Alik following his example while Anya and Alisa went over to Feia.

"Hello, Baba," Vitaly said as he tried to catch Slava's tail. Afon grunted in response, taking notice in the black ear markings that were starting to form on the youngest cub's ears. Feia, once down with Vitaly's grooming, looked up at her mate in concern. She could never understand why he usually looked disappointed at Vitaly. Never.

Alik looked at his little brother closely as Vitaly tried to pounce on him, missing the middle son by the length of Afon's tail and Anya and Alisa giggled. Afon narrowed his green eyes as Slava went to pick up the cub. "You are getting closer, Vitaly," the teen said placing him near Alik. Vitaly puffed out his chest in pride, receiving a grunt from Alik.

…..

Afon gazed out from the den as the rest of his family slept, his green eyes glowing in the Russian night. He often did this, gazing down into his territory were almost everyone except for the night creatures is asleep, for usually two reasons. One was to kept watch, to make sure no intruder snuck in during the night. Hence this was something Afon had taken pride in himself for his excellent night vision. The other reason was to clear his thoughts and, for a great amount of time, there has been one certain thought that had yet to leave Afon.

Vitaly.

Afon sighed and closed his eyes for a few minutes at this. He had expected Vitaly to die at some weeks old, not grow up to the 2 month old the cub was now. He had not expected Vitaly to grow at such a rate. Granted, he had heard of some runts surviving, but they had stayed small and had some human help from what he heard. Here in the wild, it was expected that runts would die, yet Vitaly hadn't. Afon had also notice how childish Vitaly was compared to the rest. No, he would soon need to have Vitaly going with the rest of the family outside the den soon, no matter what Feia said.

"Afon?"

In speaking of which.

Afon turned his head to look at Feia, her red eyes filled with concern. "It is not ofzen you are awake at night, Feia," he said, looking back at the territory. Feia sighed and went to sit by his side.

"Da, but I'm now concern, Afon. I.."

"Vhat is it?"

"I vas vondering vhy you alvays seemed dissappoinzed vith Vitaly. Are you not happy that he is alive? Are you not grateful?" Feia said, her expression filled with confusion and concern. Afon sighed again and looked at her.

"He is not vhat I expected. I had expected zhat he, as zhe runt, vould had died. It is not zhat I am not grateful. I am also zhinking.. zhat I should zake him out vith zhe other cubs, show him our territory," he explain, not meeting her eyes. He did note, however, her terrified expression, which he had expected.

"Nyet! Ve agreed zhat he vould not leave den unzil he vas ready!"

"And I say he is ready zo leave den! He can not stay in den forever! It is better he learn early zhan later!"

Feia's ears went back as Afon bared his teeth and had his claws out as he said that, lowering her head and quickly going back into the den. Unknown to either adult at the moment, Slava closed his eyes quickly as his mother pasted him, only to open them again to look at her in concern, and at his father in what was either hatred, or disapproval.

….

Vitaly looked at his father in curiosity as he was picked up by the back of his neck and taken with his brothers, sisters, and mother. Waving his paw at Agnessa, the cub tried to see where they were going, his bright green eyes searching for the destination. He soon perked his ears at the sight of the main river, where Afon put him down. As Afon began to talk, Vitaly looked at the grass under his feet and lifted his paws to sniff the dirt that clang onto his soft pelt. Alisa and Anya, who were practicing their hunting skills with Alik, found themselves giggling at their brother's innocence of the world.

Afon stopped his talking and looked down at Vitaly, who was now rolling in the grass, and frowned. Feia smiled a bit and nudged Vitaly. The young cub looked up at his parents and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Baba."

Slava sat near by the riverbed and looked at his family before frowning at his father. He hadn't forgotten what he had seen the night before, and he defiantly wasn't going to put up with how his father did some things. Afon, despite talking about the territory and what Vitaly would need to know about it, had also caught Slava's glare and frown towards him. For some reason, the adult male could tell that his eldest son was defiantly up to no good.

* * *

Me: finally, I got this done!

Marty: why do I have a feeling that Afon's gonna… um… what's the term I'm looking for?

Me: I don't know, but at least we got a little more insight in how Afon's and Feia's relationship works. Um, everyone review please!


	3. The Seal, The Lioness, and The Tigress

Ok, sorry for the really long wait, everyone. I own nothing but the OCs in this. Everything and everyone else belongs to DreamWorks

Leopard the Warrior of Africa

* * *

Vitaly ran towards the riverbank after managing to escape the attention of Slava after Alik, after much convincing him to do it, pretended to have been stung by a bee. It seemed that over the 4 months that Vitaly's fluff was had worn off, except for his shoulders and back. His ears now were fully black, as well as his height seeming to change as well. In fact, anyone who didn't know how old the Russian tiger cub was would have guessed he had to be at least 10 to 11 months old.

Jumping into the water, Vitaly began to swim to the other side of the river where some of the musk deer were resting along with some other herbivores. However, they all ran off at the sight of him quickly as he sat on a rock once he got to that side. Sighing in relief at his victory, Vitaly laid on his back. "Finally, alone and in zhe peace and quiet."

SNAP!

Vitaly perked his ear and rolled over onto his stomach as he looked around. Next thing he knew, his head was pinned to the rock, and something, or someone, was one him. He tried to get a scent off of whoever it was, only to get just barely the scent of three. He tried to turn his head, only to have his head pressed against the rock harder.

"Otstan' ot menya! (Get off of me!),"he yelled out, trying to push whoever was on top of him off. He heard a gasp and felt the weight on him get off. Shaking his head as he got up, Vitaly turned around, growling at whoever had pounced on him only to find himself looking confused at three females.

One was a tigress, her fur slightly a slightly darker than his, her dark violet, heavily-lidded eyes with long eyelashes. She had to be at least 6 months older than him, making her just a year old. Though if it wasn't for the long eyelashes and the slightly bigger chest, Vitaly would have thought she was a male. Another was a Baikal seal who looked about his age, with beautiful, clear, bright blue eyes and a brownish grey fur coat with darker brown spots. The last and third one was a feline Vitaly did not recognized. Her red eyes were also heavy-lidded and had long eyelashes like the tigress, but they were bright red, and much more challenging. Her fur was also was pure white like snow, though the tail tuff on the end and the ear markings she had were cream-color. On her forehead was some sort of fur tuff that was almost barely noticeable.

Vitaly stood up, looking at each of them a little wary. Not many unrelated tigers ever came to the valley, though every now and then his family would see a Baikal seal group pass through. The six-months-old cub perked his ears as he sat down, his claws still out.

The Baikal seal stepped a bit closer before tilting her head. There was a bit of an uneasy silence between all of them for quite some time before the tigress spoke up.

"Vell, youngszer rouge? You going to fight us or let us make first and last strike?" Her voice was rather rough and self-confident, challenging him to both options. Vitaly raised an eyebrow at this. He knew he was considered big for his age, but he never thought he could be so that easily confused for an older age to strangers.

"Easy, Yeva. This tigro, he probably is still new to being on his own," the white feline said to the tigress, her voice also challenging, yet somehow smoothing. Vitaly looked more and more confused at this.

"I am no rouge. This valley, it is terrizory of my papa and mama," he said, earning confused looks from all three females.

"Vait, you… you still live with your parenzs?" the seal said, her voice rather curious and, in Vitaly's opinion, adorable. "How old are you?"

"6 months, going on zhe 7th month."

The tigress, Yeva, looked over at the seal with a shocked face while the white feline looked at him in confusion. "You… you look razher…"

"Big zo be 6 months? Da. I get zhat a lot."

Yeva walked up to him, seeming to be judging him as her dark red eyes narrowed. Vitaly stood up straight, only to realize that she was at the most a centimeter taller than him. It seemed that Yeva had noticed this as well since her dark brown ears twitched when she didn't need to move her head at all for her dark bloody ruby red eyes to meet his bright green jade ones. "You may be zhe tall one for your age, but I zhink ve can take you in a fight," she said, the word "ruthless" coming to Vitaly's mind in a matter of mina-seconds.

"Zhere are three of us and only one of him, Yeva. He vould never have a chance," the white feline said, stepping forward, her brighter eyes of ruby glaring at Yeva. Yeva growled at the feline, though walked over to her and the seal. The seal took a few more steps forward, a smile on her face.

"I am Gonima, of the Baikal Lake. Zhe tigress, as you might know by now, is Yeva. Zhe lioness is Rita," she said, her blue eyes sparkling. Vitaly's ears perked up again and finally let his claws retract back into his paw.

"Lioness?"

Rita smiled and spoke before Gonima opened her mouth. "Da. Zhat is my kind. Of course, ve lions and lionesses, ve are not usually vhite furred." She smiled as Vitaly seemed to walk steadily forward a bit before stopping himself.

"Vitaly," he said, sitting back down. "My sisters and one of my brozhers like to call me zhe mama rebenka," he finished, smiling sheepishly. Yeva look unamused at this and huffed.

"So you are zhe mama's boy."

Vitaly growled a bit at the tigress's comment, even though on many levels, it was true.

"Vitaly!"

Vitaly perked his ears and looked over his shoulder to see the rest of his family swimming towards where he and the three females were. Afon was the first to step onto the river bank, his expression of clear disappointment and anger towards the youngest of the family making even Yeva and Rita back away. "Vitaly, vhat had your mozher, Slava, and myself have told you of running off on your own vith no permission? Did you not zhink of vhat vould have happened to you!?" he growled before looking at the three females. "And you zhree, I only give you zhis chance to run. Get. Out! Especially you, Lion girl!" Gonima was the first to run off, clearly frighten of the grown male elder. Vitaly felt strange as he watched her do so, as if something had just swooped and taken some of the best feelings of his life. Rita stared hard at Afon before following her seal friend, but at more of a trot than a run like Gonima. Yeva was about to follow them until Feia spoke up.

"You are Zhenya's and Ipatiy's daughter, da? Zheir daughter Yeva?" she said, narrowing her eyes at Yeva. Krasota looked over at the mother tigress while Afon looked at his mate in shock. Vitaly looked at his siblings, only to see that all four of them looked confused.

"Vho is Zhenya and Ipatiy?" Slava asked, tilting his head, not at his parents, but at Krasota. Afon huffed at Slava's ignorance, clearly expecting better from the eldest child. Alisa and Anya looked at their mother, expecting an explanation. Alik, however, tried to look as if he understood, only to make his expression look as if he had a bad toothache.

"Zhe top tigers on zhis side of Russia. Zhey are good friends of ours… zheir rather big terrizory is not far from here in fact," Afon said, glancing at Yeva for a moment. Yeva now looked rather proud of herself, giving a smirk of dignity and knowledge.

"Da, I am zheir daughter. Zheir oldest daughter even," she said, sitting down with her head held high. Afon looked impressed, even considerable at her now. Feia narrowed her eyes though, and seemed to be holding back grunting in dislike as she edged near her children. Vitaly noticed the confused look on Slava's face, giving him the clue that their mother usually did not do this.

"Feia, take Anya and Alisa back to zhe den. Sons, stay here vith me. Ve vill be taking Yeva back to her father and mother," Afon stated, giving Feia more of a command look as she led Alisa and Anya away. Alik perked his ears up as Slava and Vitaly looked at each other again. Yeva gave a rather disappointed look.

"I do not need to be zaken back to my papa and mama. I am of age."

"Da. But your timing of coming here to zhis terrizory gives me zhe chance to finally speak to zhem once again. Ve have unfinished business," Afon said, towering over the young tigress.

"And you vant us to meet zhem?" Alik asked, grinning at the thought of meeting important tigers. Slava rolled his eyes as Vitaly frowned. Afon, however, smiled.

"In a vay."

…..

Yeva led them to a secluded spot in her family's territory where Vitaly saw what looked like the beginning of an underground cave. Yeva went in part way of the entrance, calling for her parents before coming out and sitting by the side. Soon, a giant male tiger with Yeva's purple eyes and a female with heavy lidded golden eyes and eyelashes came out, both looking slightly older than Afon. The male, Ipatiy, stopped at the sight of Afon, Slava, Alik, and Vitaly. The tigress Zhenya looked at Yeva as if to ask why the four males where there.

"Afon? Zhis is an unlikely…. surprise," he said, though his tone hinted that the sight of the other father tiger did not please him. Afon smiled and bowed his head.

"Ipatiy, Zhenya, before I remind you of our previous bargain, I vant to introduce my zhree sons. My oldest Slava, my second son, Alik, and my youngest, Vitaly. Da, I know he looks older zhan Alik, but he has alvays been large for his age," Afon said, each of the younger males bowing their heads as they were introduced. Ipatiy seemed to have stopped himself from groan at the beginning, while Zhenya closed her golden eyes tighter at each name. Vitaly twitched his ears at this and looked at his father, not knowing if it was alright to speak. Afon didn't look at him, but rather smiled at Ipatiy's and Zhenya's reaction. Turning his head to Yeva, he realized that she too, had noticed her parents' reactions. "Now, our bargain, if you have forgozen it, I vill remind you again zhat..," Afon started, only to be interrupted by Vitaly.

"Vhat bargain?"

"Quiet, Vitaly." Afon glared at him, as if commanding him to step back.

"I remember zhe bargain, Afon," Ipatiy said, closing his eyes. "Ve vill discuss it in zhe den, however. Zhenya, Yeva... vhy don't you two zake Afon's sons on a tour of zhe terrizory?" Zhenya nodded while Yeva answered "yes, baba," following her mother.

Slava and Alik following the tigresses quickly, though Vitaly tried to stay back to hear more. "Vhat is zhis bargain?"

"VITALY! GO VITH ZHEM!"

Vitaly later found himself following beside Zhenya and Slava while Alik stayed by Yeva. Vitaly rolled his eyes as he listened to the two gossip about how some herbivores chose strange habits. After some silence apart of the gossip between Yeva and Alik, Vitaly decided to get to at least know Zhenya more.

"So, vhy are you and Ipatiy not happy to see my baba here? Besides zhat zhis is your terrizory," he asked. Zhenya glanced at him for a moment before opening her mouth and giving a low growl. Vitaly felt his own ears fall back, though felt confused.

"I am sorry. I did not zhink zhat vas zhat private."

He heard another low growl come from her, though he thought he heard more of a sigh. He heard Yeva sigh and speak directly to him. "I am sorry about my mama. She is mute. She cannot talk like us," she explained, seeming to have taken interest in a nearby butterfly. Vitaly felt himself blush and noticed Alik's expression towards him. Why was he looking at him in anger?

When they reached back to the den, Afon and Ipatiy were waiting outside it, Afon looking triumph and Ipatiy looking rather displeased. Zhenya looked at her husband with an expression hinting that she wanted to know something. Ipatiy looked at Zhenya as if he was downbeat and looked at Yeva.

"Yeva….if you vere to choose one of zhe three sons Afon has broughz vith him to be… your _companion_, who vould he be?" he asked, almost as if the world depended on it. Yeva's expression was unreadable as she looked at each one of the brothers. Vitaly felt confused again. Rita and Gonima seemed to have been good friends, part a group even, with Yeva. Wouldn't they be her companions then?

Yeva looked at her father with a confused expression. "Do I have to answer zhis question?" Ipatiy sighed and looked over at Zhenya, who gave a nod back to him.

"Yeva, come vith me. I vill explain in zhe den." Yeva followed Ipatiy, leaving the rest outside.

* * *

Maurice: …. Odd… choice of events in a chapter.

Me: *wakes up* mmm? Oh, yeah. Well, Yeva was supposed to be Krasota in this.

Alex: What made you change it to Yeva?

Me: I thought it was too early to introduce Krasota as herself. Besides, it made more sense with Krasota having a whole different backstory.

Marty: Where have I've seen Rita before?

Me: Um, that fanfic that has a bunch of other peoples OCs in it. The one called "A Circus Showdown." Also, she the newer version of what had been my version of Alex's love interest before Madagascar 3 and you guys met Gia, Vitaly, Stefano, Sonya, and the rest of the circus crew.

Marty: oh yeah. So this is how Vitaly and her meet?

Me: At first introduction, yes. In other ways though, this is just when they're acquaintances. She has a stronger part in this later on.

Alex: ok. Gonima?

Me: I'll save it as a surprise.

Alex: Main purpose for Yeva in the first place? You know, after you changed her to Yeva.

Me: Hinted at it already. *yawns* ah man, I'm so glad this isn't eight pages. Now everyone review on this, AND I'd like to see at least one to three reviews on "Australia's Outcasts." Honestly, I'd like to know if people like the first chapter on that or not so far. **And I mean **_**EVERYONE REVIEW**_**! **Thank you. Now if you all will excuse me, I have some napping to catch up on due to my social, web, and personal life. *goes to sleep again*


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